The Columbus Crew is a professional soccer team in the United States. The team is a member of the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top professional soccer league of the United States and Canada. The Crew has had nine different head coaches since joining the league in 1996, one of whom served only in an interim capacity. Timo Liekoski, the only Finnish head coach in MLS history, was the first head coach in 1996, but started 6–16 with just 14 points in its first 22 games, lowest in the league by seven points, and was fired midseason to be replaced by Tom Fitzgerald, who would lead the Crew to the playoffs, amassing 7 wins, 2 draws, and a single loss after taking over for Timo Liekoski. [1] [2] [3]
Tom Fitzgerald would take the Crew to the finals of the 1998 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. [4] Fitzgerald is the club's leader in career wins (86) and playoff wins (nine), and is tied with Gregg Berhalter for first in playoff appearances (four). [5] On May 17, 2001, it was announced that Fitzgerald would be let go by the team. [6]
Greg Andrulis, who replaced Tom Fitzgerald as head coach on an interim basis after the firing of Fitzgerald, became the full-time head coach of the Crew on Oct. 25, 2001. [7] He achieved a significant milestone by leading the Columbus Crew to their first major tournament victory in 2002, winning the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. [8] [9] [10] In 2004, under Andrulis' guidance, the team won the Supporters' Shield for having the best regular-season record, while also winning an individual award; MLS Coach of the Year, the first time a Crew head coach won the honor. [11] [12] [13] However, Andrulis, who had been with the team since 1997 as an assistant, was fired during the halfway point of the 2005 season, with assistant coach Robert Warzycha taking over for the remainder of the season on an interim basis. [14] [15]
When Sigi Schmid began the 2006 season, it was the first time since the team's founding that a new coach took over in the off-season. He coached the team from 2006 through 2008 and led Columbus to its first MLS Cup championship in 2008, a season in which he also won MLS Coach of the Year, the most recent Crew coach to have won the award. [16] [17] [18] After that season, Schmid left to coach the newly formed Seattle Sounders FC, and former player and assistant coach Robert Warzycha replaced him. [19] Warzycha was the Crew's head coach from 2008 to 2013, and led the Crew to another appearance in the U.S. Open Cup final, losing in 2010 to a Seattle Sounders team led by Sigi Schmid. [20] [21] Warzycha's overall record of 70-59-41 leaves him tied with Tom Fitzgerald for the most regular-season wins as head coach of Columbus. On September 2, 2013, he was let go by the Crew, with Brian Bliss becoming the interim. [22]
Gregg Berhalter was named as head coach as well as sporting director, overseeing all player personnel decisions on November 6, 2013. [23] The Berhalter-coached Columbus Crew teams reached the MLS Cup Playoffs in four out of five seasons, and despite working with a salary budget that ranked in the league's lower half each year, Berhalter led the team to the 2015 MLS Cup Final, [24] losing to the Portland Timbers, coached by Caleb Porter.
On January 4, 2019, the aforementioned Caleb Porter was named as head coach, after Gregg Berhalter left to coach the United States men's national soccer team. [25] [26] Porter led the Crew to its second MLS Cup championship, beating Seattle Sounders FC 3–0, [27] as well as winning the 2021 Campeones Cup. [28] After not making the playoffs in either of the next two seasons after winning the championship, the Crew parted ways with Porter after the 2022 season. [29]
On December 6, 2022, Wilfried Nancy was named as head coach, being hired away from CF Montréal. [30] [31] Columbus would conclude the 2023 regular season as the top-scoring team in MLS, marking the first instance in the franchise's history. Nancy would guide the Crew to an MLS Cup victory his first season in charge, beating the defending champions Los Angeles FC 2–1. [32] With that victory, Nancy also became the first Black head coach in MLS history to win MLS Cup. [33]
Coach | Tenure | MLS Regular Season | MLS Cup Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Honors | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | D | Apps | W | L | D | W | L | ||||
Timo Liekoski | December 5, 1995 – August 2, 1996 | 6 | 16 | – | 0 | — | — | |||||
Tom Fitzgerald | August 2, 1996 – May 17, 2001 | 70 | 67 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 3 | ||
Greg Andrulis | May 17, 2001 – July 16, 2005 | 49 | 43 | 32 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 3 | U.S. Open Cup – 2002 Supporters' Shield – 2004 MLS Coach of the Year – 2004 | |
Robert Warzycha (interim) | July 16, 2005 – October 20, 2005 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 1 | ||||
Sigi Schmid | October 20, 2005 – December 16, 2008 | 34 | 33 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | MLS Cup Champion – 2008 Supporters' Shield – 2008 MLS Coach of the Year – 2008 | |
Robert Warzycha | December 23, 2008 – September 2, 2013 | 63 | 53 | 38 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | Supporters' Shield – 2009 | |
Brian Bliss (interim) | September 2, 2013 – November 6, 2013 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |||||
Gregg Berhalter | November 6, 2013 – December 2, 2018 | 67 | 58 | 45 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 | ||
Caleb Porter | January 4, 2019 – October 10, 2022 | 59 | 51 | 47 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | MLS Cup Champion - 2020 Campeones Cup - 2021 | |
Wilfried Nancy | December 6, 2022 – present | 25 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | MLS Cup Champion - 2023 |
The Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one of the 10 charter clubs of the league. The team is currently operated by an ownership group led by the Haslam family and former team physician Pete Edwards. The Haslam/Edwards group is the third ownership group in club history.
Patrick Stewart Onstad is a Canadian former professional soccer goalkeeper who serves as the General Manager of the Houston Dynamo. During his career, Onstad played with a variety of clubs in Canada and the United States and was a three-time winner of MLS Cup. He was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in November 2015.
Greg Andrulis is an American retired soccer coach.
Gregg Matthew Berhalter is an American soccer coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. He is the first person in United States history to participate in the FIFA World Cup as both a player and head coach. His tenure as coach has been noted for the recruitment of a younger player roster.
Robert Warzycha is a Polish former professional association football player.
Brian Boyer Bliss is a retired American soccer defender and front office executive. He also serves as an assistant coach for the United States U-20 national team.
Federico Fernando Higuaín is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward and attacking midfielder. He is currently the head coach for MLS Next Pro club Inter Miami II.
Caleb Porter is an American soccer coach who is the manager of Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. He was previously head coach of the Portland Timbers from 2013 until 2017. He won MLS Cup in 2015 with Portland and 2020 with Columbus. In addition to MLS, he coached the United States U-23 team in 2011–12, and the University of Akron men's team from 2006 to 2012, winning the NCAA title in 2010.
The 2013 Major League Soccer season was the 18th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 101st season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 35th with a national first-division league.
Darlington Joephillip Nagbe is a professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer. Born in Liberia, he played for the United States national team.
Konrad Warzycha is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Gyasi A. Zardes is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club Austin FC.
The 2014 Major League Soccer season was the 19th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 102nd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 36th with a national first-division league.
The 2015 Major League Soccer season featured 20 total clubs. The regular season was held from March 6 through to October 25, whereas the MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 28 and ended with MLS Cup 2015 on December 6. The defending MLS Cup champions were the LA Galaxy, while Seattle Sounders FC were the defending Supporters' Shield winners.
The 2018 Columbus Crew SC season was the club's twenty-third season of existence, and their twenty-third consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. Columbus also competed in the U.S. Open Cup, and took part in the Pacific Rim Cup and Carolina Challenge Cup during preseason. The season covered the period from November 30, 2017, to the start of the 2019 Major League Soccer season.
The 2020 Columbus Crew SC season was the club's twenty-fifth season of existence and their twenty-fifth consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. Columbus were also set to compete in the U.S. Open Cup, before its cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season covers the period from November 11, 2019 to the start of the 2021 Major League Soccer season.
Aidan Zen Patrick Morris is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew and the United States national team.
Sebastian Matthew Berhalter is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Wilfried Nancy is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew.
MLS Cup 2023 was the 28th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), played on December 9, 2023, at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The soccer match between hosts Columbus Crew of the Eastern Conference and defending champions Los Angeles FC of the Western Conference determined the champions of the 2023 season. It also marked the conclusion of the MLS Cup Playoffs, which was contested by the top eighteen teams based on their regular season records.